What happens if a house if left in a will but sold before death?

[Thedarksideofthemoon30]

Just that. What happens if say someone leaves a house in a will to somebody but the house is then sold while relative is in a care home by another relative?

And what happens to the money from the sale of the house?

The solicitor handling the sale must of checked that either the person had capacity to sell the house or the POA had the authority to sell on his behalf if he ,lacked capacity. He would have had a capacity assessment and be on a D OLS if he lacked capacity and maybe that's why he couldn't have left the home. A poa can be revoked in the carehome or a solicitor could have visited.

This situation happened with a relative of mine back in the 1980's. The house was sold and funds used to pay for care. There was still a significant amount of money left from the house sale after the person died which then went to the person she had named in the will who was to get the house. Other savings she had went to other relatives. It is of course possible that the law could have changed since then.

The POA worked at the care home the person was 'forced' into? Isn't that a massive conflict of interest?

Pil’s house was sold when they went into care. Keeping a house empty for an unknown period is problematic: damp, leaks, possible break-ins... you have to pay extra insurance and perform regular checks as an empty house is vulnerable. A person could be in care for years and will most likely not be returning.

Of course an estate is net of costs - nursing home fees, any debts, funeral etc.

So how does a will work, will it say “estate to be shared between so and so” or will it say “so and so gets this much etc” ?

Nobody can say for sure, OP. It all depends on what the person wanted. It could be either - or all to one person, all to charity etc. Only the reading of the will would clarify that I'm afraid.

If you are unhappy with the way the POA was handled then you need to appoint your own solicitor quickly.

In my mums case the will stated x % of the estate to me and x % to (bitch) sister plus a named amount each for the grandchildren.
It was a very simple will, but some go into much more detail 'Brothers 2nd wife's great granddaughter to have the clock in the front room' for example

"It just makes me sad as he was desperate not to sell his house and he had money to be able to pay for the carehome fees without needing to sell it. He didn’t even want to be in a care home and POA made him, he could have easily had a career at home and been happy for the last few years."

This is very unlikely to be true. He'd have to be very wealthy to afford a care home for years on his savings. Plus, nobody leaves their home sat there empty for years. It had to be sold. He'd have been utterly miserable at home this past year with covid restrictions, at least he got to see his daughter in the care home this way!

Also, if this is all just because "it makes you sad" then what does it matter how his will is worded? Surely you'll be "so sad" regardless.

[quote Cherrysoup]@Charley50 but not everyone registers it so that isn’t necessary true.[/quote]

Oh I didn't realise that. I presume if probate has to be granted it then gets 'made public' though?

OP, can't you just ask to see a copy of the Will? Is there one? As a PP said, Estate is usually given in percentages these days, rather than items.

OP, you don't say what relation this person was to you but you are not next of kin, executor nor did you have POA so there are obviously people closer to the situation than you were. You also don't know the contents of the will, how the house was dealt with in the will, and it hasn't even gone to probate yet. Your relative may or may not have needed to go into a care home, sometimes it's easy to look from the outside in and make judgements without knowing all the facts. Apologies if I am wrong but from what you have written so far this looks rather like someone who is worried they may have been done out of a possible inheritance. You have posed a hypothetical question around a scenario which may not exist and are now getting all kinds of advice and people getting worked up about something which not even have happened?

You can write a will whatever way you want. You can leave specific things to certain people, or you can split it %.
The funds from the house sale should now form part of the estate.
It’s possibly a quicker way to do things rather than have to wait for probate to be sorted to sell the house.

Presumably when the poor man dies then the Executors will collect up any monies and assets, pay outstanding bills and tax then distribute as specified in his Will.

If the poa acted wrongly there might be a claim but I suspect (not certain) the onus would be on you to prove it.

I would say that it is easy to assume that having a live in carer in your own home isn't as expensive, or cheaper than a care home. I know from experience that this isn't necessarily true.

I have poa for my mil. live in care covering daytime only with a 2 hr block break for us works out at about £1150 a week, more when there are bank holiday days are charged at double rate. If we get to the point of needing care / help at night we'd need another carer and be paying double.

On top of that there are the costs of running the house, plus food for mil and carer. It is eye wateringly expensive.

We do it though as mil is, despite her considerable issues aware of her surroundings and desperate to stay at home.

I would add that whilst the company we use isn't the cheapest, the cheaper companies had lower headline rates, but built in lots of extras that would have brought the fees upto what mil pays. We were also quoted considerably more by other companies.